The field of collapsible containers is replete with examples of various volume containers and spout configurations. Generally speaking, these containers are intended to hold fluids of various types. A typical example of a prior art container is one wherein two flexible panels are joined at their common periphery and a spout is located in the face of one panel. Alternatively, the spout may be located between the two panels at their common periphery.
While collapsible containers of the prior art advantageously provide volume efficient containment of various fluids, they commonly suffer from numerous disadvantages. These disadvantages include the inability to manually dry the inside of the container, the inability to manually clean the inside of the container, the inability to quickly fill the container, and most noticeably, the inability to insert large objects into the container. While rigid containers having large orifices overcome many of these disadvantages, such containers do not collapse upon the displacement of fluid or for storage purposes. Moreover, if a large spout were to be incorporated with collapsible containers of the prior art, the desirable attributes inherent with collapsible containers (e.g., foldability) would be compromised.
It is therefore desirable to include the benefits of large orifice openings in a collapsible container without compromising the inherent advantages of a collapsible container. The present invention is intended to achieve the object of providing for a large orifice opening while still retaining the desirable features of a collapsible container.